In a brief span of time, digital networking between distant parties, such as over the Internet, has gone from extraordinary to commonplace. Initially, many networking interactions focused on data transfer and other nonsocial activities, but social networking has increasingly become an important motivation for online activities. This is especially true for younger users, for whom the Internet has existed since childhood.
However, social relationships over a digital connection are still not as easily made or maintained as similar relationships in the physical world. One primary difficulty pertains to a user's ability to reach out initially to other individuals and to begin a relationship or interaction. A number of techniques and technologies have arisen in attempts to address this issue, however none have been completely successful, and thus an unmet need still exists. The primary technologies aimed at solving this dilemma are customized web pages, online profiles, and vcards (virtual business cards). Each of these techniques exhibits shortcomings that prevent it from satisfying the needs discussed above.
For example, a customized web page could allow a user to describe herself in a free form manner. However, web pages require more than minimal expertise to establish, thus limiting the pool of potential users. In addition, a web page does not itself appear to the user as an exchangeable entity. Similarly, the online profile exhibits a number of drawbacks. For example, as with a web page, an online profile is typically not a directly exchangeable entity. Rather, a recipient must retrieve a locator, and then manually act again to retrieve the information identified by the locator. In addition, online profiles are typically constrained in content by rules established by the profile service provider. Finally, vcards, while providing some benefits, also do not provide a complete solution to the problems described above. A vcard is typically a self-contained collection of data that appears visually in the format of a business card. While the vcard is exchangeable between users, it has a number of other shortcomings. For example, since it is entirely self-contained, it may contain stale information that is in need of updating. In addition, the format of user information for a vcard is significantly constrained, and the vcard lacks other attributes of a physical card, such as having two sides rather than just a single side.
There remains a need for an online contact mechanism that can be passed, automatically updated, and which can serve as a contact point for initiating further online communication. Such a mechanism can ease the manner in which online introductions are made and relationships begun, and can also provide a user with greater latitude than was previously available for more fully describing themselves, their interests, and their associations.